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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29177757">Synchronicity</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/irusu_u3/pseuds/irusu_u3'>irusu_u3</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>... everything, Alternate Universe - Dragons, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Dragon Slayer Suna Rintarou, Dragon Trainer Miya Osamu, Enemies to Lovers, Excessive Worldbuilding, High Fantasy, M/M, Non-Traditional, POV Third Person, Strangers to Lovers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 12:47:29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>10,202</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29177757</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/irusu_u3/pseuds/irusu_u3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Day in, day out, he hunts the beasts that once haunted his dreams.<br/>He finds them, and slays them -- rinse and repeat.</p><p>This time would be no different from any past hunt.</p><p>If not for the new future introduced into Suna's lonesome life.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Miya Osamu/Suna Rintarou</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>50</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>SunaOsa Valentine's Exchange</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Synchronicity</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is my gift for <a href="https://twitter.com/gomoonrie">Rie</a> on Twitter!<br/>I initially aimed to include much more of your prompts but halfway through, this fic grew into a life of its own.</p><p>I hope you still like it though &lt;3</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The tavern reeked of weeks old, spilt beer, of careless joy and of a significant mold problem.<br/>
In all honesty, usually, he wouldn’t be caught dead in a place like this -- a popular hub, past midnight, filled to the brim with locals from this small, rural village.</p><p>Not just because of the stench.<br/>
Not even because of the shady figures in every nook and cranny, because Suna was definitely classified as such a shady figure himself.</p><p>He simply hated drinking -- a waste of coin, really.</p><p>And yet, here he was, perched on top of a dented, worn stool, shoulders hunched and sourly sipping from his ale every few minutes, a worthy sacrifice if it meant blending in with the commonfolk.</p><p>Taverns attracted rumors, and rumors attracted Suna.<br/>
His ears caught stray words, the gossip, about how the iron smith's wife offered <em>certain</em> services for a few gold coins, and early worries about the upcoming winter.</p><p>Less patient men in Suna’s position would have left an hour ago.</p><p>His nails scratched at a peeling piece of wood on the counter, clasping the handle of his mug and throwing back another reluctant sip.<br/>
The flint got stuck underneath his nail, but he continued to pull it back, bending the wood further.</p><p>“ -- saw fire, I swear!”</p><p>The piece snapped and shot into the tip of his finger, drawing a hiss out of the brunet.<br/>
He quickly picked the needle-like splinter out, catching the red bead welling up out of the cut and tasting his own sweet blood on his tongue.</p><p>Suna’s eyes slanted towards one of the tables away from him.<br/>
Two men, one with a giggling lady on his lap, were talking animatedly -- clearly drunk.</p><p>He could barely follow their conversation, with gleeful songs being sung and cheers being called all throughout the tavern.</p><p>“You think it was a dragon?” one questioned, eyelids blown wide, mug swaying dangerously close towards his companion. “Or have ya eaten one of those mushrooms again? Dragons haven’t been seen around here in years, y’know!”</p><p>“I know, I know! But I --” his companion slurred, “I know what I saw! Poof, fire! And didn’t Haruno mention he was missing a few of his sheep?!”</p><p>Suna had to constantly travel throughout the year, trail the rumors, gambling on drunkards’ words and threaten people into sharing information with him.</p><p>This night could’ve been another fruitless one to join the many others.</p><p>Sometimes, he went days without any leads, being forced to depend on kind-hearted merchants to take him along on their path to the next village.</p><p>Not tonight.</p><p>The fact that <em>dragons</em> were even mentioned was a whole ordeal to him, and to his occupation.</p><p>He’d shot one through its wing at the border with the Kingdom of Vulpes and supposedly forced it to emergency land somewhere inside this country -- Corvus.<br/>
Suna has been trailing the general direction of the beast for days now, so rumors about one suddenly appearing nearby was a godsend, and it made these past two muddy weeks worth it.</p><p>Even if the conversation he listened in on proved to be a false lead, the thrumming satisfaction of knowing the results of stubbornly trusting his own gut coursing through his veins couldn’t be willed to calm.<br/>
He left his mug on top of the counter in favor of getting as much information out of the drunken witness while he could, before the man passed out.</p><p>He slid off his seat, pulling his hood just a bit further down, making a beeline for the table, not seeing the use in hiding his intentions.</p><p>His shadow cast by the dim lanterns fell across the men, though the woman noticed him first, questioningly looking up at Suna with big, blue eyes, and messy dark hair framing her cheekbones.</p><p>She tapped her suitor’s arm, catching his attention, which Suna was extremely thankful for. Any opportunity to come across as less ill-willed or nosy, he’d take.</p><p>The man inelegantly scrunched up his nose, accidentally tipping his mug as he looked Suna up and down, scrutinizing, trying to figure out if he possibly recognized him. The leftover beer sloshed over the edge and splattered to the ground, drenching the floorboards, leaking through the gaps.<br/>
“Who’re you?”</p><p>“You mentioned you saw a dragon?” Suna asked, “Do you remember where?”</p><p>The man turned to his friend with a triumphant laugh.<br/>
“See? This guy here believes me! How come you don’t, huh?!”</p><p>“You old fool, I never said I didn’t!” the other grunted, shaking his head.<br/>
“‘s just that, ever since the King’s ascension. . .”</p><p>Suna cleared his throat.<br/>
“Sir,” he tried again, “Where did you see the dragon fire?”</p><p>“Aah,” the man drawled, frowning, “Lemme think. . . Heathland Valley, up. . . up north. . . yes. . .”</p><p>His eyes rolled backwards and his head connected to the table with a nasty thump, but too far gone to realise -- the woman left his embrace with an offended gasp when he started snoring, stomping away to find a new companion.</p><p>The other man, however, hollered, laughing as he emptied his mug in one go, hiccuping and slapping his knee with joy.</p><p>Suna thought this was his cue to leave.</p><p>He briskly maneuvered between the tables and narrowly missed being drenched by a flying mug, darting past the bard and the musicians.<br/>
The stuffy air inside the tavern had been making him lightheaded, and in all honesty, he knew how much worse tonight could’ve gone, so he was relieved to leave and finally have a location on his hands.</p><p>Outside in the cool, near-winter breeze, Suna pulled his hood back, and looked up to the snowy mountain peaks in the distance, misty clouds floating along the slopes.<br/>
The faint strings of cittem and drunken singing somewhat ruined the impending, enclosing atmosphere of the sight, though even humane noise could not hide the night sky and its twinkling stars high above.</p><p>Suna’s eyes fell to the Heathland Valley, a plateau between two mountainsides, a supposedly biodiverse field with flowers and grass where shepherds brought their cattle to graze, with ancient caves paved into the rockside.</p><p>Though Suna has passed through this town a fair few times before, he only ever watched the mountains from afar, hoping to never have to travel through.</p><p>It wasn’t hard to guess he’d have to dress warmer, as he would need to climb a significant height, and he inwardly groaned at the prospect.<br/>
Addressing the dragon personally in his head, he wished it had chosen instinct over intelligence and found a more comfortable, easier-to-reach spot to settle and lick its wounds.</p><p>With one last glance towards the hidden valley faraway, Suna turned and muddled his way back to the inn he was staying at, to prepare necessities for the trek and to enhance the weapon that has seen many of dragons’ blood in the past.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>xxx</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Suna must have cursed every deity from every kingdom at least thrice by the time he reached the halfway point up the mountain.<br/>
It’s not like he hasn’t seen worse weather circumstances -- slaying dragons was not for the weak-willed -- but treading every step with a dose of doubt, in fear of a loose rock or treacherous gaps, couldn’t be healthy for anyone.</p><p>Suna had learned to respect the local shepherds a whole lot more on his way up.</p><p>To keep himself busy, trying to take his mind off the way the handle of his sword pressed into his nape with every step he took, Suna recounted the dragons he’s fought before that came closest to the one he was trailing today.</p><p>Because while dragons may come in different shapes and sizes, skills and attacks, there were patterns and definite overlaps between species.</p><p>There’d been the Red-spined Flytrap, terrorizing a community of Fae within their marsh, and Suna’s trusty boots had not been prepared for the humidity and soppy mud trying to swallow him whole.</p><p>Then the last known Crystalline breathed its last scourging breath within a cavern in the back of an elusive cave system, that Suna had to traverse with a guide he had to bribe generously, or he might’ve taken one wrong turn and never see daylight again.</p><p>But, Suna thought that, after over 10 years of mostly-successful dragon hunting under his belt, he could recognize any dragon from a mile away and instantly assign its species.</p><p>The one he shot at the border he hadn’t recognized, even after pondering about it for days on end in its pursuit, and this lack of knowledge had been able to draw out a rare level of frustration.</p><p>As Suna clambered on top of yet another thin, flimsy protrusion sticking out from the mountainside to take a breath, he unhooked the flask from his hip and took a few deserved gulps, indulging in a few minutes of looking down on the miniscule town below.</p><p>The breeze cooled down the sweat sheening on his forehead, brushing strands of caramel hair into an even worse state of disarray.</p><p>It felt oddly comforting.<br/>
Oddly undeserving, too.<br/>
A peaceful moment such as this wasn’t meant for someone like him.</p><p>It felt wrong to take a break.</p><p>Suna heaved a sigh and packed back up, turning his back to the landscape and reaching for the next ledge.</p><p>He itched to see that silver dragon up-close.<br/>
To watch its slit pupils hone in on his own ant-like body, holding a claymore like a needle, untelling of his experience and knowledge of the feel of ruby-red blood on his hands.</p><p>Someone like him must look ridiculously underwhelming to a mighty beast such as a dragon.</p><p>A mere caricature, foolish enough to face off with a mythical being wielding the ever-so irritating benefit of flight among others, <em>thinking</em> he could defeat it.</p><p>But surely there was a reason as to why Suna’s mansion had an entire floor dedicated to preserving dragon’s teeth and claws.</p><p>Souvenirs.</p><p>It was a benefit in its own right, a dragon’s prideful arrogance, always underestimating Suna and always partially causing its own downfall.</p><p>One more grueling hour passed before Suna hauled himself up onto the valley's plateau, finally safe from the cutting, unrelenting wind.</p><p>Grass tickled underneath his fingers, familiar and soft, as he crawled to his feet and dusted off his dirtied pants -- it didn’t change a thing about his sullen appearance, but it was the thought that counted.</p><p>Before him lay the Heathland as foretold, a spring of flowers and grass between two diverging mountains of depressing grey, outstretched and very out of place.<br/>
Discovering this place must’ve felt like finding a gem among bedrock, with its sliver of fresh water straight from the top of the snowy mountain peaks slithering through, providing for any sheep and goats brought to graze.</p><p>Just as he was informed, into the side of the left mountain, was a cave’s mouth etched, perfect for shepherds to stay and look out over the cattle, and sleep safely.</p><p>Perfect for a dragon to make its temporary nest in, too.</p><p>There were, in fact, no sheep roaming the fields.<br/>
Not anymore, at least.<br/>
Instead, there were only patches of burnt grass and a few inconspicuous blackened carcasses strewn around.</p><p>Suna <em>would</em> have taken more time to observe the land, but the trek up had soured his mood and he’d rather descend back down before night fell.<br/>
Showing up at the Guild with the teeth of this dragon should get him some sort of bonus too, because as far as he knew, nobody was aware this species existed.</p><p>He unclasped the strap binding his claymore to his back, and gripped the worn handle with a sense of relief.<br/>
Like blood coursing through veins, he felt his own magic thrum throughout the weapon, enhancing its power and providing an absorbent shield against dragon fire, preventing it from melting and adding more magic to the flow.</p><p>Suna plowed through the damp grass, still wet with morning dew, while keeping his eyes trained on the cave entrance.</p><p>In the case of dragons, there was no room for mistakes, no room for guessing or underestimating.</p><p>Many dragon slayers lost their lives to underpreparing, more than the Guild would want to admit. Dragons never left much behind if they got a hold of a human, and Suna would not be just another name to the list of <em>assumed dead.</em></p><p>An array of potions were attached to his belt, for both emergencies and strengthening, and with his claymore readied, Suna took a first step into the cave.<br/>
Sunlight only reached a few meters inside -- the walls and gravely floor were equally swallowed by the darkness.<br/>
He saw a few bones to the side, neatly in a heap, which struck Suna as odd.</p><p>Cautiously, he unhooked a tube with ash and tapped a bit onto his hand, and blew.</p><p>A tiny, blue fire roared to life in place of the ashes, a few sparks flying before settling into his open palm, hovering above his skin and softly blazing.</p><p>The fire was his only companion in the dark, as he moved into the cave, ears twitching at every pitter-patter, every drip from stalactites.<br/>
He heard water rushing underneath his feet, far below into the ground, rumbling.<br/>
The glow from his fire reflected against the wet cave walls, where thin stripes of filtered snow paved decades old paths into the stone.</p><p>Suna quite liked the scent lingering, though.<br/>
Musty and damp, a bit muddy and of sand, and --</p><p>Smoke.</p><p>He heavily inhaled the sharp smell through his nose, following the cave until it reached a fork, splitting into two paths, equal in size and gloomy darkness. Suna sniffed, again, lightly walking back and forth until he decided the origin of the smoke came from the left.</p><p>Now, He thought he should be close. Smoke traveled far, but lost its scent fairly easily to more overpowering smells.</p><p>Suna snapped his hand shut, killing the fire, instantly engulfed by thick shadows. It could be night, it could be day -- there was no way of telling anymore, if not for his internal clock.<br/>
Slowly he moved, inching into the entrance he chose, smirking to himself when he saw physical strings of smoke swirl past him.</p><p>This smirk fell when he realized dragons didn’t need a physical fire to keep themselves warm. Their breathing often did produce smoke-like puffs of air, but there was no reason for clouds this size to form.</p><p>Though perhaps, Suna more or less hoped, this rare species did.<br/>
Perhaps, it had evolved in other ways while needing to fall back on older survival tactics.</p><p>Holding his breath, Suna turned a corner, and was greeted by a faint glow of yellow and orange in the distance, a flickering campfire, lighting up the cave.<br/>
Plastering himself close to the wall, he slinked closer and closer, instinctively frowning.</p><p>He paused at the last turnaround, one last chance to turn back and call for reinforcements, because this situation was clearly odd and unnatural, its implications even worse.</p><p>Clenching his claymore with both hands, he stepped out of hiding and into the warm light, and discovered he’d been right -- a campfire, with neatly stacked blocks of wood in a circle, various portions of meat and fish roasting on top.</p><p>In the far end, curled up against the back wall, lay the silver dragon. Its scales shimmered, its wings were neatly folded against its sides and a tail adorned with spikes lay idly next to it.</p><p>Next to its head, sat a person.<br/>
The man chewed on a piece of meat, petting the dragon’s snout as if it were a daily motion for him to do so.<br/>
The dragon’s eyes were closed, but clearly alive, as evident of its rising and falling belly, and tiny curls of smoke rising out through its nostrils.</p><p><em>Both</em> were clearly alive.<br/>
There was no blood, no sign of injury on the male’s part, though Suna did note the already close to being fully healed tear in the dragon’s folded wing -- there was no mistaken this was the dragon he had shot at the border.</p><p>Suna couldn’t contain the harsh breath of confusion that left his throat.<br/>
He rose his claymore, not daring to take a step closer, frozen in place -- neither man nor dragon seemed bothered by each other’s presence, and Suna didn’t understand.</p><p>It should have torn the man apart by now, his flesh should be digesting in the dragon’s stomach, there was <em>no way</em> this was real --</p><p>Was Suna enchanted?<br/>
Had there been a trap laid within the cave and he didn’t notice?<br/>
Something that made him hallucinate, or see illusions?<br/>
Something that intended to drive him mad?</p><p>But Suna hadn’t felt any magic, had felt no seal or traces of such.</p><p>Was that male enchanted, somehow?</p><p>He snapped out of it as he recounted his earlier thoughts about not dying to something stupid.</p><p>“Hey, you -- what’s going on?!”<br/>
Suna aimed his weapon at the dragon, whose ocean eyes instantly blinked open, its dark pupils shifting and quickly finding and focusing on Suna. Resting against the dragon’s stomach, the male’s hair was a deep grey with black roots showing, and he looked up, startled, as the dragon rose its head and got ready to stand.</p><p>“Oh,” was as far as the stranger got, eyebrows risen in surprise before the silver beast curled around him, hiding him from Suna’s view and --</p><p>It seemed to be protecting him.<br/>
Shielding him from Suna’s weapon, despite how it should be aware Suna wasn’t out to get the man.<br/>
Those icy cold, large eyes stared back, with its head half the size of Suna’s entire body, but it didn’t get ready to attack nor flee.</p><p>But it should -- it <em>should</em> at least be able to breathe a type of fire, a universal truth among all species.</p><p>Suna heard it softly grumble, a warning, and it exhaled deeply, its breath blowing gravel past and against Suna’s boots.</p><p>He had to get the man safely away from the dragon, or he couldn’t attack it in fear of killing a civilian, which would be against the Guild’s law. He’d be shunned if they ever found out, possibly demoted, even though Suna knew a few fellow dragon slayers did not care for this rule much.</p><p>“Why in Hell’s name would you --” Suna started, but cut himself short.<br/>
It didn’t make sense, there was no reason a human could peacefully be around a dragon, and in the small glimpse he’d taken at the man’s attire, he wasn’t fit to fight or kill this dragon.<br/>
His tunic had looked velvety, though dirty and smudged, Suna assumed it likely once matched the dragon’s pearly scales.</p><p>“Alright, please do not panic,” a calm, smooth voice came from behind the dragon’s injured wing.<br/>
Then, softer, “It’s okay, don’t worry. Will ya let me go?”</p><p>The dragon sniffed in apparent disagreement.</p><p>Sterner, <em>“Shirogane.”</em></p><p>Keeping its eyes trained on Suna, the dragon reluctantly took a sluggish step backwards and settled, its wing unfolding and revealing the man once more, cool and calm and collected.<br/>
His grey orbs met Suna’s gold, and he didn’t look particularly peeved about anything that had gone down.</p><p>“It -- it listened,” Suna said to himself, gaze flickering between the dragon and the man, conflicted.<br/>
Something within his body screamed to leave while he could, that this wasn’t real, something was <em>wrong</em>.</p><p>But Suna was grounded where he stood.</p><p>He found he wasn’t afraid of the dragon anymore.<br/>
He was afraid of the man that could get such a monster to listen, how he’d commanded it without fear.</p><p>“What are you?” Suna demanded to know, one hand on his potion for momentary invisibility, the other holding his weapon now trained on the man instead.<br/>
The dragon noticed this shift, and its tail swept across the ground, as if to warn its companion a meter away.</p><p>“Do ya ask everyone ya first meet what they are?” the man said, comfortably sitting back down near the campfire, and turning one of the fish around.<br/>
“Rude fellow, ya.”</p><p>Suna stayed silent, watching from his safe place out of the dragon’s reach. The southern dialect threw him off a bit. It was one largely spoken in the Kingdom of Vulpes, a kingdom to the south known for its cultural and scientific advances.</p><p>The man looked up at him questioningly, before shrugging and continuing to tend to the food.<br/>
“I’m Osamu, human, dragon breeder an’ trainer, nice to meet ya.”</p><p>“What?” Suna deadpanned, “No.”<br/>
Dragon trainers were something of a recent development in history, and Suna has had exactly zero experience with them -- he didn’t know what to expect.</p><p>Amused, ‘Osamu’ repeated, “No?”<br/>
He prodded at the meat before skillfully scooping it out and onto a clay dish.<br/>
“. . . Well, I have two guesses at why yer here.”</p><p>Suna was honestly torn at what to do or say. The dragon he’d been hunting was watching him closely, but not attacking him, and there was a human, the least expected race to bond with non-humanoid beings.</p><p>His hands trembled, tightening and slacking around his claymore’s handle.</p><p>“Ya might be some adventurer here to observe the Heathland, got distracted and strayed into this cave,” Osamu suggested, “Which would be extraordinarily dumb. So, would ya like some food?”</p><p>“What’s your second guess?”<br/>
“That yer here on purpose.”</p><p>Suna snorted, rolling his eyes, but when he caught his own shoulders sagging in relaxation, he shot back up and glared at Osamu.<br/>
“Why are you not more alarmed with me and -- why -- a dragon?”</p><p>“If ya would sit down, I’ll try an’ answer,” said Osamu, gesturing to the warmth around the campfire.<br/>
“She’s not going to roast ya, I promise.”</p><p>“Like <em>it</em> didn’t roast the local sheep?”<br/>
“Can ya honestly blame her? Have ya tasted roast lamb?”<br/>
“I can, and yes, I have.”</p><p>Osamu huffed in disdain.<br/>
“Not one I prepared then, that’s for sure.”</p><p>While this was more than ample reason to flee, Suna hesitated. His mind continuously pulled him back to eye the dragon, waiting for any threatening movements on its part, but he also wanted to know more -- from a safe distance.</p><p>It was absurd. He felt more unsettled by Osamu’s presence than the dragon’s.</p><p>“I came here to kill it.”<br/>
One card out on the table.</p><p>“Can’t say I’m surprised,” Osamu hummed, taking a bite out of the perfectly tinted fish, “It was only a matter o’ time till word reached a dragon slayer. That’s what ya are, right?”</p><p>Suna nodded, thumb brushing back and forth across the smooth glass of one of his potions.<br/>
“Now you. Are you. . . really, a dragon trainer? Are there more of you?”</p><p>“Shirogane here is a mix of a Crystalline an’ a Snowsnout,” Osamu replied, petting the dragon’s claw. He snorted, then, for a reason unknown to Suna, but quickly recomposed himself.<br/>
“. . . Yes, there are more o’ me. Ya must’ve heard of the recent introduction of dragon protection in Vulpes. That was a collective effort of me an’ a few of my peers.”</p><p>Which then explained why Suna obviously couldn’t place Shirogane’s -- no, <em>its</em> -- species.</p><p>When word of the passing of the Dragonae Protection Law in Vulpes went around, it caused enormous discourse within the Guild.<br/>
Said law was currently being discussed with Corvus, Ictis and various other kingdoms, and though Suna didn't know the details contained, it spelled bad news for the future of the Guild.</p><p>That had been the moment when even Suna realized that times were changing, steadily and strongly.</p><p>Suna slowly slid down to the cold floor, keeping his claymore in his hold, one side of his body hidden around the corner and protected away from the dragon. He didn’t see any other choice but to settle somewhat and wait.</p><p>Wait to see out of sheer curiosity.<br/>
Wait for an opportunity, if it went sour.</p><p>Suna sure as hell wasn’t going to descend down to the village again with empty hands, and he also was not going to kill Osamu to get to the dragon.</p><p>Osamu cast a glance over at Suna across the campfire, and he laughed softly, hand shooting up to try and cover it up.<br/>
“Ya look like a goblin, hiding in the shadows like that, ‘m sorry.”</p><p>Mildly offended, Suna grumbled, “Shut up. Insult aside, I have more questions.”</p><p>“Go ahead,” said Osamu, making a half-hearted gesture of allowance.<br/>
“If yer hungry, feel free.”</p><p>Osamu spit a few tiny bones to the side, looking over at Suna with an expectant gaze.</p><p>“Why are you not,” Suna started, eyebrows crinkling downwards.<br/>
“You <em>know</em> I’m here to kill it. I could kill you. Why are you not afraid?”</p><p>Osamu threw the cleanly eaten remnants of the fish on the heap.<br/>
His smile fell a bit, and he swallowed his last bite.</p><p>“Well,” Osamu said, less energized than before, “I <em>am</em> afraid. Not as much anymore as when ya jumped out into the light at first, but. . . It’s why I keep talkin’, yeah? I’m not much of a talker, usually. That’s my brother’s job.”</p><p>Suna softly exhaled in realisation, eyes widening slightly.<br/>
“Oh,” he said, “. . . I didn’t notice.”</p><p>“Clearly,” said Osamu, failing at truthfully smiling.<br/>
He then leaned in closer towards the campfire, the light illuminating his eyes and forehead and cheekbones, shooting Suna some sort of conspiring look.</p><p>“. . . Listen, the sheep massacre right outside was an accident. I was plannin’ on goin’ to the village to see if I could contact someone back in Vulpes, but before I even reached the Heathland, Shirogane had followed me out and went fuckin’ <em>ham</em> on those sheep.”</p><p>Suna nodded along.<br/>
He gravitated to believing Osamu on this one.<br/>
The lackadaisically strewn around, uneaten carcasses added up to his retelling.</p><p>Suna decided then to take the plunge.<br/>
He may have come here with different intentions, but his inner curiosity had won him over.</p><p>“I’m Suna,” he tentatively introduced himself, “Suna Rintarou. Member of the Corvus Guild of Creature Control. Dragon Division.”</p><p>“Osamu,” repeated the human, “Dragon breeder an’ trainer, part-time researcher funded by the Vulpes University in Rouge.”</p><p>Suna shifted in place, his backside feeling sore and numb, and the inviting, warm orange campfire started to look extremely tantalizing, despite the dragon curled around it.<br/>
But he wasn’t sure, yet.<br/>
Osamu could be setting him up for a quick, easy death by dragonfire, especially now that he knew Suna’s occupation and goal -- then again, Osamu seemed to have an inkling regarding Suna from the very start.</p><p>“Is it really tamed?” Suna decided to ask, knees pulled up closer to his chest. His warm coat had helped on his trek up the mountain, but the inclosing coldness of the cave started seeping into every hot patch.</p><p>“Yes, as far as one can tame an animal. I’d like to point out there’s a difference between wild dragons and ones raised an’ bred in captivity,” Osamu said, and it all made sense just a little bit more for Suna.<br/>
“Nuances, ya know? Shirogane ain’t the type o’ dragon ya hunt. Her parents were, though.”</p><p>Taking a gulp from his flask, Suna hummed in understanding, wiping at his lips with the back of his hand.</p><p>Osamu wasn’t judging his occupation despite being this close to the dragons Suna slayed, because it wasn’t wild dragons that he trained and raised.<br/>
He’d most likely been afraid Suna wouldn’t listen despite the innate weirdness about a human alive next to a dragon.</p><p>Nuances.</p><p>“Wild dragons are natural disasters on their own, an’ past experiments have proven it to be utterly futile to try an’ tame them,” Osamu concluded, “Ya know, we had to find an’ infiltrate into their nests and steal eggs from them, to start raisin’ the first dragons in captivity.”</p><p>“Then are you sure that what you’re doing is a good thing?”</p><p>Osamu smiled wryly.<br/>
“I personally think so, but I get why others may call us hypocrites. We can’t go an’ tame wild dragons, and at the rate ya dragon slayers are diminishing their numbers, there’s no other way.”</p><p>Well, Suna wasn’t one to judge.<br/>
His own grudge against the beasts had mellowed over the years, and even those accursed, haunting flames started leaving his nightmares alone.<br/>
It’d become more of a real job to him, while the revenge that had kickstarted his journey had taken its leave.</p><p>Moreover, this talk about dragon eggs led Suna to --</p><p>“Baby dragons.”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>Suna cleared his throat, and looked away from Osamu and the slumbering Shirogane.<br/>
“So you’ve seen eggs hatch? You’ve seen baby -- . . . hatchlings?”</p><p>Osamu’s eyes brightened, his entire expression then did, and he smiled. Suna guessed the human must be remembering a precious memory, as he looked lovestruck and enamored.</p><p>Osamu was easy to read.<br/>
It was refreshing talking to someone without being wary of deadly ulterior motives.</p><p>He looked younger and brighter and in a skipped heartbeat and a passing thought, Suna realized how handsome Osamu was.</p><p>Suna subtly shifted a bit closer to the campfire, a bit more towards the warmth. For some ungodly reason Shirogane heard, and one of her piercing blue eyes opened, and Suna momentarily froze -- but, she huffed, and the shimmering bleak eyelid dropped back down.</p><p>Suna felt as if his younger self just received permission from a protective parent to play with their kid.</p><p>There was something in her eyes that differentiated them from wild dragons, like Osamu claimed, and which Suna hadn’t noticed before. Though, <em>before</em>, he didn’t really have much time to try and look into a dragon’s eyes while assuming it would try to kill him.</p><p>Was it a lack of animosity?<br/>
Or an abundance of care, for the grey-haired human right next to her?</p><p>Perhaps both.</p><p>Shirogane nosed at Osamu’s idle hand with her snout, not bothering to open her eyes, and audibly sighing in satisfaction when the man started petting her again.</p><p>Definitely both.</p><p>“How small do ya think hatchlings are when they tumble out from between the eggshells?” Osamu posed an interesting question.</p><p>Dragon eggs were relatively small in comparison to its mother that birthed them, but then again, Suna with his own eyes has only seen a nest with eggs once on a large-scale hunt with a few other members from the Guild, only to proceed to slay the mother of the nest with them.</p><p>It’d been the most vicious, dangerous confrontation Suna had ever been part in, and when one of his seniors got snatched up and eaten alive, he understood why he had been forced into a party of multiple dragon slayers.</p><p>The eggs -- well, he hadn’t cared much for the eggs, but now that Suna recalled, he was pretty sure another team followed up to collect the unborn dragons and shipped them off to god-knows-where, for god-knows-what-reason.</p><p>Perhaps Osamu had been involved with it.</p><p>Perhaps, if Suna hadn’t been set on erasing every dragon from existing back then, wild or tamed, fueled by a blinding rage only -- he and Osamu might’ve met years ago.</p><p>Suna hummed, “Small like a greyhound?”</p><p>Osamu snorted, a bit smug.<br/>
“Hatchlings, <em>Sunarin</em>, are the size o’ chickens.”</p><p>“Chickens,” Suna repeated, in utter disbelief. “No.”</p><p>Osamu laughed again, nice and smooth, a hearty rumble, and even if he was making fun of Suna, his laugh didn’t sound like he was.<br/>
He didn't stifle it this time, either.</p><p>Suna thought then that Osamu might’ve been actually, <em>truly</em> afraid of him before, or afraid of what Suna could do to him and the dragon he almost seemed to consider his friend.</p><p>“Why do ya say it like that,” Osamu said, “Ya can’t say that to everythin’ ya don’t wanna believe.”</p><p>“Oh, but I can,” Suna replied, scooting a few centimeters closer again, shivering at the warmth that hit his knees and feet, making his toes tingle.<br/>
“It’s worked out for me so far.”</p><p>Osamu relented with a last sigh, “Alright, be that way. They may be the size o’ chickens, but their total meal for a single day also consists out of one entire chicken.”</p><p>Suna looked at him, unmoving and piercingly staring.<br/>
And Osamu looked back, able to hold his gaze for a little more than two seconds without the corners of his eyes crinkling and the neutral, thin line of his lips twitching upward again.</p><p>“Fine,” said Suna decidedly, “I can believe they would eat their size in food a day. They’re still dragons, hatchling or not.”</p><p>He eyed the steaming steak cooling on another makeshift plate next to the campfire, sniffing the tasty, slightly charcoal-y scent.<br/>
Though he had packed a bit of stale bread and cheese into his pouch this morning, the bubbling fat and perfect brown edge continuously pulled his attention.<br/>
He’d planned to eat his food when he found the illusive silver dragon, observing for a bit before confronting it on a full stomach -- but then the evidence of something strange going on kept piling up, and now he’s found himself at a man-made camp with a human and human-raised dragon.</p><p>Today was not Suna’s day.<br/>
Or maybe it was.<br/>
Maybe Osamu was who he needed to know about in his aimless life.</p><p>While contemplating whether to ask for the meat or start unpacking and nibble at his bread, Suna’s stomach rumbled, noisily on par with the sparking and crackling of the campfire.</p><p>Shirogane snorted, a curl of smoke rising from between her revealed canine teeth.</p><p>Suna chose to write the immaculate timing off as a coincidence.</p><p>“Say, Osamu?”<br/>
“Yeah?”<br/>
“Can Shirogane understand Elvish?”</p><p>“You mean, can she understand what <em>we</em> are saying? Of course she can,” Osamu answered, relaxing against the dragon’s white belly, moving upward and down slightly with every breath she took.<br/>
In what Suna now recognized as Osamu’s researcher-voice, the human continued, “Studies have revealed that every species of dragon should be acutely aware of an’ able to decipher largely spoken languages.”</p><p>Suna fell silent.<br/>
When his need for revenge still burnt large and strong, he had cursed the dragons he faced, had yelled at them, had threatened and dared them as they gazed down upon him.</p><p>He looked up, opening his mouth to answer with something, anything, a simple “I see,” would do.</p><p>Osamu placed a clay plate with the roasted meat in front of Suna, before slinking back around to the other side of the fire and settling next to Shirogane.</p><p>Suna smelt a whiff of fresh calluna.</p><p>But only for a second.</p><p>It’d been there, and then it was gone again.</p><p>Staring at the food in front of him, Suna softly breathed, relishing in the natural noises all around him, sounding twice as loud into his ears than usual.</p><p>The burning fire.<br/>
The dripping of water.<br/>
The faint howling of the wind.</p><p>His fingers, curled up in fists, clutched the thick fabric of his coat, as he refused to face Osamu.<br/>
“You shouldn’t share food with strangers. Especially not if you’re still stuck here until Shiroga -- <em>its</em> wing has healed.”</p><p>“Oh, ya noticed that injury?” Osamu asked, unbothered, “Ah, I s’pose ya would. It’s healin’ up pretty nicely. I was plannin’ on continuin’ our trek tonight.”</p><p>“I gave her that fucking tear, asshole.”<br/>
The conflicting pains at the corners of his eyes were vaguely familiar, almost unrecognizable.<br/>
“And you knew, didn’t you?”</p><p>Osamu’s eyes were on him, Suna could tell, from the pleasant tingling of his skin.<br/>
He didn’t want to look up -- he didn’t know what to expect if he did, didn’t really want to know, either.</p><p>Osamu finally said, “I had a feelin’.”</p><p>It hadn’t occurred to Suna again that he could still pick up his weapon. But even now that he remembered, not a cell in his body felt it was right to do.</p><p>Suna did look up then, and took a somewhat shaky breath.<br/>
“. . . I’m guessing you don’t have any cutlery?”</p><p>And Osamu, he smiled, with his eyelids slightly dropped, a bit lazy and a bit satisfied.<br/>
It’d been quite a while since someone smiled at Suna like that, so truly at ease without being on guard.</p><p>“I’m afraid I don’t.”</p><p>Suna prodded the meat until he felt it’d cooled down enough for him to hold it. When he found it had, he brought it to his mouth and took a bite, momentarily closing his eyes.<br/>
The juices seeped into his throat alongside the crispy meat, and when he had swallowed a chunk, he cast a bare-minimum smile, but <em>genuine</em>, more genuine than anything else Suna had done today, back Osamu’s way.</p><p>“You were right. This roast lamb is the best I’ve had yet.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>xxx</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Heaving a soft breath, Suna lowered his claymore, sinking through his knees before letting go of the familiar, smooth handle. His fingers unwound, and he got back up, staring at the dragon through the campfire.</p><p>Osamu, that asshole, snickered, petting Shirogane’s neck without a care in the world while watching Suna deal with a much larger choice the human could imagine.<br/>
Or else he knew exactly the turmoil raging inside Suna’s head, and simply found it hilarious regardless.</p><p>Shirogane huffed, her exhale blowing gravel against the opposite cave wall.</p><p>“If yer really concerned, ya could always start by apologizing for her wing,” Osamu suggested. He stepped away from the dragon’s head, making it obvious where he expected Suna to approach.</p><p>“Right,” Suna grumbled, increasingly growing more aware of the avid beating of his heart inside his ribcage. He’d almost forgotten Shirogane could understand every word he spoke.<br/>
He brushed a stray strand behind his pointed ear, swallowing.</p><p>Suna faced the silver dragon, forcing himself to look into her eyes instead of at her sharp claws and canines.</p><p>“You’re already aware, but I didn’t know you were flying with your friend,” Suna said, his voice miraculously clear. He briefly looked at Osamu, who only somewhat encouragingly nodded.<br/>
“. . . My job is to hunt wild dragons who disturb settlements. I do apologize for injuring you. Crash-landing with a fragile human on your back must not have been easy.”</p><p>Again, he glanced at Osamu, daring him to interrupt his speech.</p><p>Shirogane -- she crooned softly, a low purr from her throat, sky-blue eyes blinking languidly and comfortably, and Suna finally exhaled the bated breath he held.<br/>
Osamu patted her stomach proudly, beaming.</p><p>“Well, I’m sure she’ll let ya pet her now.”<br/>
“. . . Pet her?”<br/>
“Of course.”</p><p>Suna’s eyebrows rose, shooting Osamu a disbelieving glare.<br/>
“I agreed to offer my friendship to her, not to be all cozy and snuggly.”</p><p>“And she clearly accepted. Yer scared?”</p><p>
  <em>Was he?</em>
</p><p>“No,” Suna decided, “But I’ve never --”<br/>
He swallowed, thumb touching one of his glass potions before curling his fingers back up into a fist.</p><p>He heard Osamu chuckle.<br/>
And so, Suna realised, “You’re just being a dick right now, aren’t you?”</p><p>“Sorry,” said Osamu monotonously, shrugging.<br/>
“I kinda hoped ya would. Pet her. Though I get why ya wouldn’t want to, yet. It’s okay.”</p><p>
  <em>Yet?</em>
</p><p>Suna couldn’t actually get angry with the grey-haired human. He liked to convince himself Osamu was still a bit wary, or that he wasn’t being genuine with every smile he smiled, and every word Osamu said.<br/>
But Suna felt he was, and it made him feel warm instead of the usual distant apathy.</p><p>He thought of Osamu like an old friend, something he didn’t actually have.</p><p>Suna should have been back down in the town by now, proudly with a claw and canine leaking through his bloodied, dirty clothes, soaked with dragon’s blood.<br/>
He’d buy himself a delicious, luxurious dinner and prepare for his journey back to his home.</p><p>But instead he’d sought the friendship of one such beasts he hunts, and its human companion alongside it.</p><p>Suna sat down next to Osamu, a lot closer to Shirogane than before, but not enough to be able to touch her.<br/>
He was fine and comfortable where he was now, with Osamu’s warm thigh pressing against his own, surrounded by the smell of smoked salmon and a vague hint of calluna.</p><p>His claymore lay abandoned a few feet away.</p><p>“Ya know what, I’m proud of ya, Sunarin,” concluded Osamu.<br/>
“I never thought I’d get to meet a Corvus dragon slayer who wasn’t above friendships with dragons.”</p><p>“Not every one of us respects dragons,” Suna agreed, “Either because they hate them for a reason, or they’ve grown arrogant. That used to be me, once, too. Now dragon slaying is a mere job.”</p><p>Osamu cocked his head slightly, which Suna unironically found fitting Osamu’s laid-back personality.<br/>
He thought it was cute, even -- Suna had met many humans before in his lifetime, but few were handsome like Osamu was.</p><p>Objectively.</p><p>He may have only started noticing two hours into Osamu’s company, but Suna could blame that on his natural lack of interest in people in general -- he’d much rather laze around in his mansion or else hunt down a dragon for extra credit than deal with people more than necessary.</p><p>“Alright, what changed?”<br/>
“Me, I suppose. Age. At some point I realized they’re animals, and not scheming beings that deliberately chose to burn down my hometown. They’re intelligent, but not necessarily evil.”</p><p>Suna stretched his legs, cold feet closer towards the campfire with a groan of satisfaction. Osamu hummed to show he’d listened, a noise of approval, handing Suna a cup with lukewarm glacier water.</p><p>Suna gladly accepted, downing a few gulps, relishing in the way it cooled his throat.</p><p>“Where were you heading,” Suna started, “Before I shot Shirogane down?”</p><p>“I can’t tell ya,” Osamu answered, managing to look genuinely guilty about it.<br/>
“It’s top secret. It doesn’t have anythin’ to do with dragons, though.”</p><p>“Oh. My guess would’ve been it has to do with the Dragonae Protection Law,” Suna pondered, taking another sip from his drink.<br/>
“Are you actually unable to tell or are you playing up a ‘Mystery Man’ persona?”</p><p>“I can’t believe ya think I’d lie to ya,” Osamu sighed, as if Suna knew him well enough to know he wouldn’t.<br/>
“Ya have my word, Sunarin, that I can’t tell ya. Not yet, at least.”</p><p>Glancing sideways at the human across the rim of his cup, Suna squinted his eyes and obnoxiously slurped.<br/>
“. . . I’ll take your word for it, then. For now.”</p><p>A gruff snore interrupted the silence. Shirogane had fallen asleep, in the presence of someone she knew to be a dragon slayer.<br/>
She trusted Suna enough to leave him more or less alone with Osamu.<br/>
Unless she was pretending, which Suna wouldn’t put above a dragon to do, but something like the slack jaw and deep in- and exhales led him to believe she really was sleeping.</p><p>A question that Suna had wanted to ask before suddenly came bubbling back up to the surface of his mind.</p><p>“. . . Has a dragon you were taming ever injured you?” Suna asked, in a softer and lower tone than before. With Shirogane asleep, the two of them sitting as close as they were, their proximity felt a lot more intimate.</p><p>Osamu didn’t immediately reply.<br/>
He stared into the flickering fire in front of them, while Suna also unabashedly stared but instead at the way the hues made the human glow like gold.</p><p>Foregoing a direct answer all together, Osamu instead lifted his dirty silk tunic, draped over his shoulders like a veil, revealing a bleak scar running across his chest and stomach.<br/>
Its edges were darker than his tan skin, rigged and evident of a rough magical healing process -- it had to have been a deadly injury.<br/>
Besides this older one, his skin was littered with burn marks, some fresh.</p><p>“May I touch. . .?” asked Suna, irises trailing the path of the scar, at the way it expanded with every breath Osamu breathed. The human nodded, though his Adam’s apple rose and fell once.</p><p>Slender fingers reached out and Suna reveled at how the muscle underneath his fingertips tensed, then just as quickly relaxed.</p><p>“This scar,” Suna mused, “Was made by a juvenile dragon’s claw, right?”</p><p>He’s seen them before, on fellow dragon slayers. The gash was far too small to be of a grown-up, but too large to be made by a playful hatchling.</p><p>Osamu answered, “It was an accident. My brother had, and still has, almost no knowledge of dragons an’ how to handle ‘em. I had to step in before he got hurt.”<br/>
He vaguely gestured with his free hand, hinting at some mildly remaining frustration.</p><p>“Going by that one statement about your brother, he sounds like an idiot,” Suna concluded, allowing for a smile when he heard Osamu snort. He retracted his hand, leaving Osamu’s warm skin to be once more hidden by his tunic.</p><p>“Ya don’t know the half of it,” Osamu agreed, “He’s a menace. Was, is, and will forever be. Then again, he’s the one gettin’ married while I’m here stuck takin’ care of this <em>beast</em>.”</p><p>He pointedly glanced at Shirogane.<br/>
“. . . But I couldn’t let his only savin’ grace go to waste because of some hormonal teenage dragon.”</p><p>Suna leaned back against the warmed cave wall behind, wriggling out of his coat slightly, finally deeming it too hot to fully wear. Osamu turned one of the fish they’d caught together earlier in the Heathland river around expertly with a quick swipe of a thin, drenched branch.</p><p>“Considering a career change, after meetin’ me an’ Shiro?” Osamu then asked, his tone light and joking as he turned to mimic Suna and sat back -- yet, there was an underlying hint of serious suggestion present.</p><p>“I am, actually.”<br/>
“Wait, what -- ”<br/>
“Your burn scars,” Suna interrupted, “Does anyone protect you during your expeditions?”</p><p>“. . . I do have some accompanying me,” answered Osamu, vaguely and with his eyebrows knit together, “But they’re not. . . They don’t have much experience with dragons. No magic either.”</p><p>“Well, then,” Suna looked away, “I have both.”</p><p>He felt Osamu’s eyes on him, making his skin crawl but in a pleasant, softly tingling way. His throat suddenly felt dry, far too dry, and tasteless.<br/>
Curiosity compelled him to glance, minutely meeting a pair of dark irises. Osamu held his gaze, the only noise being the crackling of the fire and the occasional snores from Shirogane.</p><p>Orange and yellow danced between them, casting their shadows against the cave walls.</p><p>Suna reached out, as Osamu’s gaze continued to bore into his own, dark yet ablaze, a playful glint in his eyes.</p><p>The pads of his fingertips came to rest against Osamu’s jaw, guiding him to tilt before one flicker down to his lips. He felt Osamu give to his gentle pull, leaning into him.</p><p>Suna’s chest rose, his ribcage encaging a rapidly beating heart, thrumming into his ears and throat and pulsing throughout his veins.<br/>
Osamu’s warm exhale fanned across his cheek once, before Suna closed the gap between them.</p><p>At the touch of their meeting, Osamu closed his eyes and Suna followed a beat later, firmly pressed against equally chapped lips. Osamu’s warm body settled and rested against Suna and into his presence, comfortable and trusting.</p><p>Calluna invaded all of Suna’s senses.</p><p>It was short, yet everything but empty.</p><p>They parted, only putting a few inches between them.</p><p>“Kissing <em>before</em> the first date?” Osamu grinned, lidded and soft.<br/>
“Truly scandalous,” Suna confirmed with a slight smile.</p><p>Suna’s hand fell down from Osamu’s jaw down alongside his neck, tracing down his bicep until he felt the curve of his waist, and clasped the found fabric as if it were his possession.<br/>
He itched to tear it in half, to expose more of him.</p><p>Their mouths met with increased fervor, and to his lips, Osamu molded like warm caramel, his skin bronze and reflecting the blazing campfire on their side.</p><p>A perfect synchronicity.</p><p>Suna held him tight, the warmth from their skins seeping through the fabric, without anything else to think about until he nipped at Osamu’s bottom lip, a question, who parted before him and sighed a sigh that sent shivers down Suna’s spine.</p><p>Plastered against each other’s sides, they kissed, strong and warm.</p><p>Their tongues pressed up and down until Suna didn't know anything anymore, and Osamu hummed a soft whine, a noise he didn’t mean to make according to the quick squeeze onto Suna’s nape, warning him.</p><p>Suna only briefly smiled, able to think about nothing more but Osamu’s form leaning into him, about the taste and feel of his tongue into a heated mouth.</p><p>It’d been years since Suna wanted to kiss someone, that he felt so compelled to do so he initiated one himself. The way he needed to taste Osamu, before the human would leave in a few hours and Suna wouldn’t be able to see and talk to him again anytime soon -- it burned and singed.</p><p>A calloused pair of hands, rough and used, cradled either side of Suna’s jaw, thumbs gently brushing across his cheeks in a constant back-and-forth motion. They eased into a languid, soft kiss, only hinting at lust, safely hidden for another fateful meeting.<br/>
It’d been there, though, Suna had felt and tasted desire, and he was left wanting more.</p><p>He'd become attached to this enigma of a free soul, a human so close to the most ancient life form, to what Suna used to hate.</p><p>But Suna could change, as he already had.</p><p>For the sake of discovering Osamu’s life with dragons, for the sake of putting his skills to use for someone other than himself, because he liked Osamu, and he wanted to know more.</p><p>For the sake of petting a dragon some day.</p><p>“You fascinate me,” Suna admitted, breaking the silence, able to whisper and still be heard clearly -- in every other situation in the company of any other person, Suna would hate such proximity.</p><p>“That feeling is mutual,” said Osamu, “Sunarin.”<br/>
He pressed a soft kiss to Suna’s cheek, sweet but still careful.</p><p>With a hum, Suna made room for Osamu to settle against him, his own scarred hand loosely holding onto Osamu’s arm.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>xxx</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Suna looked over at the large, orange glob slowly sinking into the horizon, right at the end of Heathland Valley, casting a mellow glow onto every surface, onto every blade of grass.<br/>
He had his claymore, but it lay slack in his hand, moreso dragging than carrying it.</p><p>Shirogane shuddered and the shiver rippled across her entire body, making her silver scales flutter and her tail swish. She spread her wings, and flapped them a few times, the grass and flowers under her sharply sent backwards in waves.</p><p>She seemed happy, Suna noted.<br/>
In a way he never thought he’d get to see a dragon like.</p><p>The last yellow sunlight cascaded off the dragon’s shiny scales, casting the tiniest of rainbows against her own reflective body.<br/>
Osamu stood beside her, calming her down but grinning, as enthusiastic at the prospect of flying again as the animal herself.<br/>
When he reached up with one hand, Shirogane gladly took him up on the invitation, and nuzzled against Osamu, her wings folded safely back against her sides.<br/>
Her claws, as long and sharp as any other dragon’s, were nowhere near Osamu’s body, nowhere near to tearing him apart.</p><p>Suna sighed.<br/>
Nobody from his Guild would believe anything if Suna told them about a somewhat domesticated, caring dragon.<br/>
Which meant Suna enjoyed a very special privilege of knowledge for now, because it would most definitely spread across the globe within the next decade.</p><p>As long as Osamu continued his expeditions, his research, his work -- they might get to see a day where, though the wild, destructive kind may have perished, tamed and trained dragons may persist through.</p><p>“Sunarin!” Osamu’s laid-back smile was aimed at him now. He beckoned for Suna to come over, but Suna crossed his arms and merely squinted his sharp eyes at the dragon trainer.<br/>
He saw Osamu’s shoulder sag, then he gently patted Shirogane’s snout and jogged over, leaving the dragon to flop on her side and roll around in the grass.</p><p>“Suna,” Osamu said again, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he did. He joined Suna at his side, and the two watched over the joyous dragon.<br/>
“So, why did ya decide to become a dragon slayer?”</p><p>Suna blinked at him, surprised at his straightforwardness. In all honesty, he didn’t think Osamu would even ask him at this point anymore, given he’d had an entire day to do so.<br/>
“. . . It’s a common story. One day, a dragon settled near our village. One night, I woke up surrounded in flames. I was eight.”</p><p>Osamu nodded, “I see. ‘m sorry that happened to ya.”</p><p>“Thank you. It’s been seventeen years,” Suna swallowed, his teeth catching the corner of his bottom lip briefly, “The time of grief has long since passed. It’s too easy to get stuck into an aimless routine. Perhaps it’s time for a change.”</p><p>Osamu’s shoulder pressed against his own, bringing warmth and solidarity with him in such a common gesture. Neither said another word while they looked over Shirogane and the squashed, claw-shaped grass patches she left behind as she got used to unlimited freedom again, out of the cave and without a hurting injury.</p><p>Reaching inside his coat, somewhere into a hidden pocket, Osamu revealed a golden, shimmering broche. Suna saw the intricate adornment, thin, breakable lines of pure gold weaving and braiding into an insignia of royalty.</p><p>The side profile of a fox.</p><p>Osamu seemed to consider his decision, minutely looking down at the priceless artifact, before his gaze shifted to Suna at his side and he offered the broche to him.</p><p>Suna couldn’t stop a sharp breath from betraying his surprise.<br/>
He reached for the broche, the metal somewhat warmed as he touched the gold, carefully taking it from Osamu.</p><p>“If in a month ya still feel like changin’ up yer life, come to the capital of Vulpes and show it to one o’ the guards at the gate.”</p><p>Turning the broche around, Suna was at a real loss of words for the first time in <em>at least</em> five years.<br/>
He didn’t doubt for a second it was made of pure, 24 karat gold.</p><p>A royal insignia, only worn by true royalty from the Kingdom of Vulpes.<br/>
He’s seen it on flags before, carried around by traveling merchants for protection, and by entourages of soldiers from noble families that traveled into Corvus for whatever noble reason.</p><p>“But you said you taught at a university in Rouge,” Suna questioned, stunned, “What would a <em>prince</em>, what would <em>you</em>, be doing teaching at a university? You said you travel around, researching, scavenging dragon nests.”</p><p>“It’s not a lie,” Osamu said, “It’s what I do. My twin brother was born 16 minutes before me, and so I received a lot less responsibility and a lot more freedom.”</p><p>Suna shook his head, overwhelmed and trying to process everything Osamu revealed to him.<br/>
“You’re traveling to Ictis for their prince’s wedding to your brother,” he realized, “The heir to the throne of Vulpes.”</p><p>“I was supposed to be present <em>before</em> the wedding preparations were made, but arrivin’ fashionably late might be a surprisin’ twist for once. They’d never expect that from me, only from ‘Tsumu.”</p><p>“I didn’t know -- If I did, then I would’ve never -- I would’ve made much less of a problem about Shirogane, if I knew it was ‘Dragon’s Child’ Miya Osamu accompanying it!”</p><p>The Kingdom of Vulpes, known for its cultural and scientific advancements, and its deep-rooted affection for dragons.<br/>
The youngest of a pair of royal twins, known for his natural connection with dragons, gifted in ways nobody else was.</p><p>Suna shook his head once more.</p><p><em>“You let me kiss you,”</em> he hissed softly.<br/>
He eyed Osamu, who he found looking back up at him.</p><p>“So?” Osamu hummed, looking away, and the tips of his ears turned a soft shade of red. “I’d let ya again.”</p><p>Suna wanted to fume, be actually angry, but shook his head instead, to hide the fond smile he knew was fighting its way onto his expression. He clenched the broche into his fist, torn between pocketing it safely and hurdling it into the Heathland glacier river.</p><p>“But -- why didn’t you tell me earlier? Not minutes before you’re about to leave for the biggest event in history?”</p><p>“I wanted ya to treat me like a stranger, that’s all,” Osamu answered after a beat of silence, “Everywhere I go, people know my name.”</p><p>“You’re an idiot,” Suna concluded, “A royal idiot.”<br/>
He unclenched his fingers and brought the broche up closer, admiring the jewelry briefly before safely hiding it within his coat’s pocket.</p><p>“Thanks,” Osamu sniffed, somewhat dejected, and Suna couldn’t help but stifle a chuckle. He moved around in front of the human, silently adjusting the fluffy rim of Osamu’s coat, protective against the harsh winds up in the sky.</p><p>“I’ll see you again,” Suna said, idly petting down the fluff, “In a month, or whenever the wedding has ended. I’ll settle some affairs here with the Guild in the meantime.”</p><p>Glancing up at Suna, Osamu muttered, “Really? Ya’ll come to Rouge?”</p><p>Suna nodded, “I’ve been there a few times before, but only in passing. The people there are nice. No remarks about my ears and eyes.”</p><p>“I like them,” Osamu said, “Yer ears and eyes. They’re beautiful.”<br/>
“Just because we’ve kissed doesn’t mean you’re allowed to tell white lies.”</p><p>“Yer eyes are pretty, and yer ears,” the human continued, reaching up to brush across Suna’s pointed ears as he did, “Don’t get mad. But I think they’re cute.”</p><p>“If you had told me so ten hours ago, you would’ve been another carcass added to the sheep graveyard,” Suna grumbled, yanking at the fluffed rim to pull Osamu closer towards him, and pressed a kiss to his mouth, one which Osamu gladly reciprocated.</p><p>“Idiot ‘Samu. I’d only wanted to slay some dragon today.”<br/>
“Too bad, ya should’ve really accounted for a stray royal,” the prince clicked his tongue, “Rookie mistake, Sunarin.”</p><p>“Yeah, yeah,” Suna looked over at Shirogane, surprised to see her intensely watching them.<br/>
“I think she might want her dragonrider back.”</p><p>Though reluctant, they parted, and Suna shivered at the instant loss of warmth.<br/>
It’d felt nice, so nice, to have someone close.</p><p>“She’s just jealous she’s goin’ to have to share me now, like the little hatchling she deep down still is,” Osamu laughed, pretty and open, before jogging over to the silver dragon.<br/>
Shirogane stayed where she was, in her lying position, though her tail wagged from side to side like a dog’s when she saw Osamu approaching.<br/>
It ruffled the grass, and pieces of ground occasionally shot away.</p><p>Osamu placed a foot onto the junction connecting Shirogane’s wing to her shoulder, swung upward and grabbed onto one of the spikes along her spine, pulling himself upward and hoisting himself onto her back.<br/>
He grinned at Suna triumphantly, as Shirogane rose up and flaunted her wings in anticipation.</p><p>There was something immensely majestic about the way the prince and the dragon trusted each other, even if Shirogane wasn’t the sort Suna slayed -- she was still a dragon, and Osamu still a human.<br/>
It was grand, silver reflecting and the sun rounding half a halo around them both as if they were loved by mother nature itself.</p><p>Suna’s eyes snapped open when he remembered. Panicked, he cupped his hands around his mouth, and yelled.</p><p>“Osamu! Go to the west until you reach the border! There’s another crossbow stationed to the north!”</p><p>He could barely make out Osamu’s surprised expression, then a smile and a tiny thumbs up and a wave.</p><p>“. . . Rouge will welcome you once more,” Osamu called, loud and fierce above the howling wind.<br/>
“And so will I. We’ll meet again. Under better circumstances.”</p><p>Suna’s heart beat with the thrums of Shirogane’s wings, hugging himself as he watched the dragon launch up and spread her wings, with Osamu small on her back. In an instant she soared through a sky marred in dawn, preparing for the dark night ahead, hiding the two from many people’s eyes.</p><p>The excited beats slowly devolved into wistful heartache, the realisation of loneliness soaking into him -- finally Suna knew what it was like.<br/>
The gap, the lack of warmth, was something he hadn’t missed in his life before, yet now that he experienced Osamu, he didn’t want to be without.</p><p>Osamu had given him a new goal.<br/>
A renewal to his aimless living, doing the same as always simply because he didn’t know what else to do.</p><p>This one day with Osamu had been lovelier than all other 364 days of the year combined.</p><p>One more month he had to live like his past self.</p><p>When even the dark dot Suna had been tracking had faded into the purple sky, he picked up his claymore and tied it onto his back, groaning when he remembered how the handle pressed into his nape.</p><p>He descended back down the mountain slope, without anything he thought to have, but with more than he could ever ask for.</p><p>The night in town was spent sporadically sleeping, and sporadically imagining a life with Osamu, furthering what many fellow dragon slayers fought against.</p><p>A week later, his mansion felt strangely cold and empty.</p><p>A month later, Suna stood at the gates of a country’s capital known for its deep-rooted affection for dragons.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Follow and chat with me on Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/irusu_u3/">@irusu_u3</a> where I do art or on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/irusu_u3">@irusu_u3</a> for fic wips!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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